Merrick 9/11 Memorial Preserve To Get New Benches

Scout Troop 351 of St. John’s Lutheran Church on Van Roo Avenue in Merrick will be busy this weekend, June 21 and 22, helping Benjamin Heo, a senior at Lutheran High School in Brookville, with his Eagle Scout Project, and you may feel inclined to help.

Benjamin told Your NewsMag that he plans on building a deck and placing benches in the memorial park developed by residents and Barry Fox of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association on Hewlett Avenue immediately north of Sunrise Highway.

“I’ve been in the park before to help another Scout attain his Eagle Scout honors when he cleaned up the park,” said Benjamin, “and it looked pretty run down” So for his Eagle Scout Project, he will put in 4’ x 4’ cement pilings into the ground and then build an 8’ x 10’ deck on top of the pilings.
After that is completed, he will place park benches atop the deck so that people can sit under the trees and recreate at their leisure. He plans to plant ornamental vegetation in the park to provide a fresh look to the area. “I’m thinking of perennials right now,” he said, such as shrubs.

Benjamin said he has raised $850 through fundraising efforts, which have included letter writing and going door-to-door in his neighborhood. He adds that the fundraising effort is ongoing.
When asked where he got plans for the deck, he said “online.”

But he also will recruit the skill of his next door neighbor, a contractor, “Eric of EHI Home Improvement, who has provided tools, labor and professional expertise for my project.” Benjamin will look to Eric help guide the volunteers and oversee the project so that it is both a safe and sturdy structure.

He also wished to thank “Sorenson Lumber of Glen Cove, who’s generous donation of materials has made my project possible.”

Said Fox: : We support him 100%. He is helping enhance the immediate area around the 9/11 memorial by adding seats to rest on, while still keeping intact the wild nature of the preserve
as it leads back.”

Benjamin hopes to recruit as many volunteers as he can for the project, thinking that 40 – which would include his troop, friends and family – would be just perfect.

If you wish to donate to Benjamin’s cause to beautify the memorial park, you can email him at 14heob@luhistudents.org, call his home at 379-2971 or send a check, written to Troop 351, to 1590 Richard Avenue, Merrick 11566.